Lakewood accomplishments lauded in mayor's State of the City address

LAKEWOOD - Despite an increase in property crime, Lakewood is still an ideal city to live in, Mayor Diane DuBois said in her annual State of the City address Wednesday.

From the long-awaited completion of repaving residential roadways to fighting crime, city officials spoke of past accomplishments and future goals for Lakewood.

"We make a big deal of our streets here in Lakewood and one very big symbol of our street work is coming to fruition next week as we repave the last of Lakewood's 143 miles of residential roadways," DuBois said. "Not many cities can say they've done that in 20 or 30 years of effort - or ever.

"Lakewood has done it in 12 years of steady, focused work."

Like many others across the state, Lakewood took a financial hit with the loss of its redevelopment funds. But the efforts were not as painful as other cities experienced, DuBois said.

"For the most part we had met our redevelopment goals and we weren't relying on redevelopment funds for core services," she said. "Lakewood is now losing about $2 million a year to the state that we were counting on as redevelopment revenue. That's about a 5 percent loss to our budget every year."

Over the past year, several improvements were made to city parks, along with advances in technology.

The Lakewood app, recently approved by Apple, is now available for iPhones and coming soon for Android phones for all customer service needs in the city, she said.

Capt. Merrill Ladenheim, commander of the sheriff's Lakewood Station, said public safety has always been a priority for Lakewood residents.

Lakewood had experienced a five-year downward trend in crime but saw a rise in 2012 in auto thefts, burglaries and other property crimes, Ladenheim said.

The increase is due in part to the state's prison realignment, which has led to the release of many nonviolent criminals in the area, he said.

Because of this, the Lakewood City Council will continue to make substantial investments in public safety, DuBois said.

The city recently purchased and installed the Advanced Surveillance and Protection System at major intersections around the Lakewood Center.

"In just two months of operation, that system is already proving to be a valuable crime-fighting tool alerting the sheriff's station to wanted vehicles traveling in Lakewood and successfully directing our deputies on where to go to pull them over and arrest the suspects," the mayor said.

"In 2013 and beyond, we'll continue to make these and other investments in public safety so that Lakewood can remain one of the safest communities in the region - even during challenging times."